Football

Cardiff end difficult week on a high with Saints win

SOUTHAMPTON, England (Reuters) - Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes their surprise 1-0 Premier League win at Southampton on Saturday can galvanise his relegation-threatened side after a difficult week for the club.

Following last weekend's 3-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace, British media reported that Cardiff's team details had been leaked to their London opponents 24 hours before the game and the saga has been unsettling for the Welsh club.

"We've had some issues but we deal with it," Solskjaer told reporters on Saturday. " just focus on football and I can focus on the rest of it.

"We're dealing with it as a club and we'll move on."

The former Manchester United striker, who on Friday dismissed any suggestion that members of the Cardiff squad were involved, said the victory over Southampton was fantastic and could be the perfect tonic to turn their season around.

"We've ended the week on a high and now it's back to square one again next week because it's about performing on the day," said the Norwegian manager who took over in January after the sacking of Malky Mackay.

After the Palace setback Solskjaer said Cardiff needed a miracle to avoid the drop but their plight was eased by defender Juan Cala who scored the only goal at St Mary's, steering home expertly from the edge of the area in the 65th minute.

Saturday's win over the Saints was Cardiff's second in their last 10 league games - and Solskjaer's first away from home with the club - leaving them second-bottom with four games left.

They are now only three points behind Norwich City, who are just above the drop zone in 17th after losing 1-0 at fellow strugglers Fulham.

Sunderland are bottom with 25 points after losing 1-0 at home to Everton, with two games in hand on their relegation rivals, while Fulham are 18th with 30.

"Before today I don't think anybody expected us to come here and collect three points. We were six points behind but now we're just three points behind," said Solksjaer.

"We started the game with the memory of last week (the Palace defeat). Confidence is massive in football. We still need to do our job. It's going to be tough and we need some help from others but it has been a wonderful week."